AXUM (2100m altitude)

Located in northern Ethiopia, Aksum reached its height between the 1st and 10th centuries, recalled in later centuries as a golden age. This was a kingdom of great wealth and sophistication, controlling the caravan routes from the hinterland of Africa, and the ancient Greek geographers describe its trade in ivory and slaves. Its kings minted a gold coinage when almost no one else in the world was rich enough to afford it or sophisticated enough to require it.

Aksum's mythical past has been preserved in the famous epic known as The Glory of Kings. This describes the Queen of Sheba traveling from Ethiopia to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem, in the hope of learning something of his famous wisdom. The king is fascinated by her beauty and her intelligence, and the son who is born from their union becomes the founder of the Ethiopian dynasty. When he travels to Jerusalem himself to be anointed by his father, the Ark of the Covenant, the chest containing the tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments, accompanies him to Ethiopia, where it will remain until the End of Time and the Last Judgment. According to Ethiopian tradition, the Ark of the Covenant

Akum because of its antiquity and close contacts with both east and west was involved at one time or another with no fewer than four of the world’s religions, the Hellenistic faith of the ancient Greeks, whose Gods are honored in the Earliest Akumite inscriptions as well as three great monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Each of these faiths, and in particular the later two, have played its own formative role in building the culture and society of Ethiopian today.

The Aksumite kingdom conversion to Christianity makes Ethiopia one of the oldest Christian countries. Christianity, which became the official creed of the Axumite state early in 333 AD, during the rain of king Ezana, Ethiopia, became the land of innumerable churches and monasteries. The oldest of these churches and in deed the oldest church in Africa south of Sahara is the original St. Mary of Zion, which dated back to the forth century. It was burned down in 16th century (1535) by the Muslim invader Ahmed Gragn. Years later it was subsequently replaced by battlemented structure constructed by Emperor Fasilades in the Early 17th C, 1662 in the same style as his castle at Gondar. A third church of St. Mary and the only one open to woman was built nearby in the mid 1960’s by Emperior Haileselasse.

Aksum is the holiest city in Ethiopia. According to the Orthodox Church, the original Ark of the Covenant, which holds the Ten Commandments, remains at Aksum today, under close guard of a priest. The Ark is supposed to live somewhere in the grounds of the 17th-century St Mary of Zion church, but of course no one is allowed to look at it. The church's museum has a small but impressive collection of bibles, crosses and crowns.
Just past the museum is Aksum's ancient stele field, all that remains of the city's past glory. Stelae are huge, carved pillars made from single blocks of granite. The largest  obelisk, which was 35 meters long and weighed 500 tons, is the biggest piece of  stone ever cut by humanity anywhere in the world but today it lies broken on the ground. Near it stands a smaller but nevertheless most impressive 24-metre-high obelisk - the pride of Ethiopia. A somewhat larger obelisk was taken to Rome; on the orders of the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, in 1937.This has   returned back to is home, Akum recently. Plans are also under consideration for the re-erection of the obelisk.

If you take a walk outside the town, you can have a look at the ruins of King Kaleb's Tomb, and if you keep going up the hill you'll end up at the Pentalewon Monastery - women aren't allowed in, but the views from here are lovely. The ruins of the Queen of Sheba's Palace are also outside the town, although archaeological investigation suggests they are 1500 rather than 2500 years old.